When we talk about programs to edit photos, one of the best known and used, especially by professionals is Photoshop. However, to use Adobe software it is mandatory to checkout and pay for licenses and subscriptions that, for most, are not worth it. Luckily, there are excellent alternatives to image editing software. And, without a doubt, one of the best and most powerful is GIMP.
GIMP, an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program , is a completely free and open source image editing program for all users, both amateur and professional. Although this program is not as complete as Photoshop, the truth is that for domestic use it is more than enough. And even some professionals can also save money by choosing this program as an alternative to Adobe software.
characteristics
Since its inception, GIMP has wanted to be one of the best alternatives to Adobe photo editing and photo editing software. Of course, the main purpose of this program is to allow users to edit their photos with professional finishes. For this it has an interface written in GTK within which we can differentiate 3 parts. On the left we will find the main tools of the program; on the right the menu of layers and in the center the space for the image that we are going to retouch.
In some aspects, GIMP stays below Photoshop. For example, the support of the layers is quite inferior. And although we can make non-destructive changes, in Photoshop these are much simpler and more reliable than in GIMP. In addition, the number of tools we can find within Photoshop is much higher and they are more personal. And some plugins already of a professional level, for example, Camera RAW, or compatibility with external programs, are an irreplaceable plus.
Tools
The main tools offered by GIMP to edit images are:
Selection tools : allow us to select parts of the image. We can use geometric figures to select (rectangle, circle), make a freehand manual selection, use the magic wand, color selection and other advanced techniques, such as by inversion, juxtaposition, addition and elimination.
- Smart selection scissors : allow us to automatically trim certain shapes through smart adjustments.
- Painting tools : they allow us to make modifications directly on the canvas of our image. Among them we can find a brush, a brush, an airbrush and a filling tool. We can also use a lot of textures, gradients and much more.
- We can find a wide variety of brushes to use with all those tools.
- We can also create our own gradients and create custom colors.
- Modification tools : they allow us to modify the scale of the image, its inclination, deform it, rotate it, change the perspective and much more.
- Tools for small touch-ups : the cloning cap, the healing brush, the blurring, blurring and burning tool.
- Text: allows us to add text to any image. We can change the style, the font and the whole format of it.
It also has many other features, such as the possibility of creating and using filters to improve images and give them much more professional touches. And thanks to its complete history of modifications it is possible to undo and redo practically any changes we have made in the image.
Plugins and much more
GIMP also has a complete system of plugins and add-ons that allow us to adjust the operation of the program to our needs. These plugins can allow us, for example, to add support for more image formats or other tools to the program. We can also use them to communicate with other programs, such as Firefox or LibreOffice.
Some of the most popular plugins are:
- GAP: add-on to create animations and save them in GIF or in AVI.
- GPS: collection of brushes and tools for professional artists.
- Resynthesizer: a plugin that allows us to use a context-based fill tool.
- G’MIC: professional filters with independent preview and configuration.
Thanks to its complete macro system, it is possible to automate all the repetitive tasks that we do with this program. To do this we must use their own scripting language, called Scheme, or use other languages such as Perl, Python, Tcl and Ruby.
Supported Formats
One of the problems we can find when using any editing software is that some format is not compatible. Luckily, this does not happen with GIMP. The developer community has worked to make this editing software compatible with virtually any format.
GIMP is able to read and write formats such as JPG, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, BMP and PIX without problems. It also has its own format for saving projects (XCF), it is compatible with Photoshop PSD and even can import and export to PDF and PS format.
This program also supports vector graphics (SVG), images in ORA format and can even communicate directly with other programs, such as Krita, to improve editing.
Download GIMP
We must be careful when downloading GIMP, because there are quite a few websites that impersonate the authentic web and yet they are not. If we want to download this image editor without taking risks, we must do it from the following link . The installer is free of ads and unwanted software.
GIMP is a completely free program for all users, so we don’t have to pay anything to download it or use it. In addition, it is available for most operating systems, including Windows, macOS and, of course, Linux.
Gimp variants
In addition to the official version of GIMP, there are some versions derived from this program that, although they use the main source code, change some aspects to meet certain user needs.
For example, Gimpshop is a version of GIMP with an interface much more similar to Photoshop. Seashore, on the other hand, is an image editor for macOS that uses an interface other than GTK and focuses on simplicity, hiding the most advanced tools. And finally, CinePaint is a modified version of GIMP widely used in the world of cinema and special effects.
